photography & lifestyle

MY FIRST TIME ABROAD

January 12, 2017

By myself… It was a whole lot of an experience and I want to share it with you. I’ve been abroad multiple times before, but always with my parents or school. Last year in May, I went abroad all by myself. And a few friends, but still: All by myself! I stepped into an airplane for the first time and saw the London Eye by night. Yes guys, my first trip abroad was to my favorite city ever: London!

Last year in May, me and my friends from college decided to go to London for a school assignment. We needed to interview the locals on their opinion about a self-chosen topic. But that’s not the point right now; we’re talking about my first experience abroad.

My first time abroad by myself was also the same moment I stepped into an airplane for the very first time of my life. I’ve never flown before! Until then… I sat by the window, holding my little vlog camera in my hand, waiting for the moment when the plane was about to take off. And what an experience it was: It felt unreal. You get pushed back into your seat when the planes takes off; you get butterflies in your stomach when the plane hits the air; your ears pop because of the pressure… But you forget all of that when you look out of the window and enjoy the view. Blue skies, cotton candy clouds. I really enjoyed flying. Yes, I’m scared that the plane will crash, but I do enjoy it. I’m planning a few trips in the future, so I hope I’ll be able to actually go on them as well.

Once we landed in London, the real fun started. Going to our apartment by tube was really fun: We got used to it real fast and acted like locals. But of course, we went to see all the staples you need to see when you’re in London.

We went to see Nottinghill, which is of course the first picture you saw in this article. But we can’t forget about the Big Ben. It was so impressive, and I took a really close-up picture of the actual clock that makes me proud.

We did loads of shopping and walking around; every evening I had to massage my feet because they were killing me! I did find tons of make-up, clothing and stationery items that I can’t find in the Netherlands, so that was a real score. A helpful tip to myself for next time: Save up a little bit more. I did save up, but I wasn’t expecting London to be that expensive… London, you are my favorite city ever, but boy, are you costly!

I think Nottinghill was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. We went to see loads of different stalls that sold the cutest little knickknacks. I even saw an old camera, you know the ones that look like a harmonica at the back? They sold them for $50! Such a shame that I didn’t have room for it in my suitcase, but there’s always next time. I want to visit London again this year, probably with my family this time. I’ll show them around where I’ve resided for a week, where my love grew bigger for this city.

London is a city that I’ll definitely recommend to everybody who likes to travel. Also, it’s a good start to begin traveling with. Transportation is simple and fairly cheap; if you go by tube. Food is found everywhere; good food is found everywhere; good & cheap food requires a little bit of search, but is so worth it! I’ll probably write some more articles about London in the future, since this is just the beginning of my blog. I have so much more to tell you guys. I want to show you all my favorite places, spots to eat and where to shop ’til you drop! I’ll leave an impression of my week in London from my YouTube channel down below here, and while you’re at it: Don’t forget to subscribe! 🙂

I first traveled abroad when I was 19. I did a 20 day bus tour trip around Europe, followed by a semester abroad at a university in England as part of my studies. I did this with a friend who was in the same course as me.